Student-Aid Form Too Long, Scholars Say

By JEFFREY SELINGO

The federal student-aid application is longer and more
complicated than a federal tax return and can be significantly
shortened without radically changing aid distribution, according to
a new paper by two scholars at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy
School of Government.

In the working paper, Susan M. Dynarski and Judith E.
Scott-Clayton argue that the complex federal-aid system was
designed for elite private colleges, which have bundles of money to
award, and discourages families